Tantalum and Niobium News UpdateShenzhen Sunrise Metal Industry Co.,Ltd

Tantalum and Niobium News UpdateShenzhen Sunrise Metal Industry Co.,Ltd

TEL：0086-0755-27185042 
Website：http://www.sunriseta.com
E-Mail：sales@sunriseta.com

February 2016

Pricing

The tantalite market has seen a pick-up in activity in the New Year, with transactions and enquiries both continuing to increase from the end of 2015. Prices for 30-35% tantalite were quoted between U$55-59/lb Ta205 at the mid-point of the month as Chinese buyers sourced material prior to the Spring Festival at the start of February. Aside from this, there continued to be a reasonable amount of offers in the market although supply of good quality, reliable material from Central Africa remains at a lower volume than this time last year as the depression in prices throughout 2015 has left many suppliers with little choice but to depart from the market. Chinese buying activity, renewed demand from buyers in both Europe and North America (looking at some positive indications for the downstream markets moving forward) brought prices to a level of between U$57-60/lb Ta205 at the end of the month. There is also active diversification demand looking for increased supplies from West Africa and South America, where the product looks cheaper also without the iTSCi levy. There is also very good demand for lower grade tantalite sources (<20%), with increased transactions in this space.

Columbite users in both Asia and the West continued to purchase material between U$9-11/lb CPO during the month of January. Materials holding a higher Ta205 value were still priced at the higher end of that range while increased enquiry in the market provided further support to the price.

Note: The above pricing is based on our operations during the month.

News

Liontown Resources uncovers tantalum in Tanzania

Liontown Resources has found tantalum during trenching work at its central Tanzanian project, Mohanga, and it has currently been graded at 1,862ppm.

Mt Cattlin set for first exports in July

The Mt Cattlin tantalum mine in Western Australia is set to make its first exports in July of this year, with estimates indicating that it will be able to supply over 80,000mt of tantalite.

Pilbara Minerals suspends Tabba Tabba commissioning

Pilbara Minerals has stated that they have found areas of the plant at the Tabba Tabba project that must be modified in order for it to run successfully. As such, they have suspended the commissioning in order to allow for engineering assessment.

Historical Pricing

Please see the chart below for information on the pricing trends for the majority of the market over the past 9 months, including price points at both the middle and end of each month since September 2015:  

The widespread opinion in the tantalite market after the first month of 2016 is that, while prices remain low compared with years gone by, the bottom was reached in Q4 of 2015 and the recovery process has started. Buyers, particularly from China, are clearly making the most of the opportunity to buy at low prices and purchases have been frequent as they have looked to conclude business prior to their Spring Festival. However, demand is not entirely reliant on them and it can be expected that prices will continue to be supported by interest from Western buyers in the beginning part of this New YearShenzhen Sunrise Metal Industry Co.,Ltd

TEL：0086-0755-27185042 
Website：http://www.sunriseta.com
E-Mail：sales@sunriseta.com